A NEW £1.2m Japanese restaurant is due to open in Liverpool’s Exchange Flags next month.

David McDermott one of the owners of Sakura (which means cherry blossom) says: “Everything about it is special – we’ve even employed a marine biologist to look after our enormous fish tanks that will be home to dived razor clams, oysters, scallops, luinguistines, crabs and lobsters transported from Scotland’s Loch Gairloch on a weekly basis.”

Masamito Morino, who has been brought in as the restaurant’s head chef, has over 38 years experience in Japanese cuisine.